February 2, 2004
This manual describes how to tune the Automatic Generation Control system for Windows
SCADA.
The content of this manual has been carefully checked for accuracy. However, if you find
any errors, please notify Survalent Technology Corporation.
Revisions
Date
February 2, 2004
Description
Initial version.
Contents
Introduction
1-1
System Tuning
2-1
2.1
2.2
2.3
2.4
2.5
2.6
2.7
Tuning Guide
Automatic Generation Control
Contents
Unit Tuning
3.1
3.2
3.2.1
3.2.2
3.3
3.4
3.4.1
3.5
3.6
Hydraulic Generators
4.1
4.1.1
4.1.2
4.2
4.3
4.3.1
4.3.2
Unit Characteristics.......................................................................................................................4-1
Steam Turbine .............................................................................................................................4-1
Hydraulic Turbine .......................................................................................................................4-2
Lead-Lag Compensation ...............................................................................................................4-3
Other Unit Parameters...................................................................................................................4-4
Unit Not Following Logic ...........................................................................................................4-4
Rate Limiting Logic.....................................................................................................................4-5
5.1
5.2
Tuning Guide
Automatic Generation Control
3-1
4-1
5-1
Contents
ii
Introduction
This document describes how to tune the Survalent Automatic Generation Control system for Windows
SCADA.
Chapter 2 describes the tuning of the main system control loop in terms of the economic allocation path,
regulating path and emergency assist path. The setup of ACE filter parameters is also described.
Chapter 3 describes the tuning of the unit control sub-loops, including pulse strength and pulse issuing
logic, and unit-not-tracking and rate-limiting logic.
Chapter 4 addresses special requirements for hydraulic generators.
Chapter 5 describes the logging facilities.
This document is part of a four-volume set. The complete set is listed in the table below.
Tuning Guide
Automatic Generation Control
Introduction
1-1
Table 1-1
Document number
Title
AGC-400
AGC-401
AGC-402
AGC-403
The Automatic Generation Control Program Description describes the theory of operation of the Automatic
Generation Control system.
The Automatic Generation Control Database Guide describes the editing facilities that are available to you
to define the Automatic Generation Control database.
The Interchange Scheduling Users Guide describes how to use the interchange scheduling feature of the
Automatic Generation Control system.
The object of many of the tuning procedures described in this document is to determine correct values for
certain parameters represented by variables in the AGC programs in-memory database. This in-memory
database, called the MMDB (Main Memory Data Base), is described in detail in the Automatic Generation
Control Program Description document. Changing the values of the parameters in the MMDB is done
using SCADA Explorer, by editing a set of AGC tables in the database. This is described in the Automatic
Generation Control Database Guide. Please read both of these documents before you read this tuning
guide.
All of the AGC documents assume you are already familiar with the basics of the Windows SCADA
system, and the use of SCADA Explorer to create and maintain database items.
Tuning Guide
Automatic Generation Control
Introduction
1-2
2.1
System Tuning
Introduction
The Survalent Automatic Generation Control system is a closed-loop feedback control system that
constantly adjusts the unit outputs to reduce the value of the area control error (ACE). Under constant load
and interchange schedule conditions, a properly configured and tuned system settles with a zero value of
ACE.
The AGC system contains two nested control loops:
A main system control loop that receives area control error (ACE) and actual generator MW values as
feedback signals, and allocates desired values of generator power.
A set of generator control sub-loops, which receive actual generator MW as feedback signals and
regulate individual generators at the desired power levels set by the main system control loop.
The main system control loop of the AGC program is shown in Figure 2-1. Note that there are three paths
from ACE to the desired generator powers. This chapter discusses the setting of the gains in all three of
these paths. The gain settings of the unit control sub-loops are discussed in chapter 3, Unit Tuning.
Tuning Guide
Automatic Generation Control
System Tuning
2-1
Figure 2-1
ACTUAL
TOTAL
GENERATION
ACTUAL NET
INTERCHANGE
DESIRED NET
INTERCHANGE
SUM OF
ECONOMIC BASE
POINTS
-
ECONOMIC
BASE POINT
DESIRED TOTAL
GENERATION
ACE
-
UNIT
ECONOMIC
DESIRED
POWER
+
FREQUENCY
BIAS
ECONOMIC
PATH
REGULATING
FACTORS
REGULATING
PATH
GAIN
REGULATING POWER
CONTRIBUTION
+
+
ASSIST
PATH
DEADBAND
A
C SS
O IS
N
T TP
R
IB O W
U
T ER
IO
N
ASSIST
FACTORS
DESIRED
GENERATOR
POWER
TO UNIT CONTROL
SUB-LOOP
2.2
The economic allocation path of the main system control loop handles the fundamental requirement of
AGC, namely that the following equation be satisfied:
Required Generation = Actual Generation + Area Control Error
To satisfy this equation, the sum of the economic participation factors of the units that are available for
economic control maneuvering must be (and are calculated by the economic dispatch program to be)
equal to unity.
With this condition satisfied, the economic path alone will give a workable AGC action. It may not,
however, take full advantage of the maneuvering capability available in the power system.
For one thing, not all units are operated under economic dispatch. Hydraulic units, for example, are often
base loaded for periods of hours at a time. Such units have zero gain in their economic allocation path,
and therefore, although they may be capable of regulating duty within a limited range of their base load
point, their regulating contribution via the economic path is zero.
Tuning Guide
Automatic Generation Control
System Tuning
2-2
Secondly, some units that are operated under economic dispatch may have high incremental running
costs, and hence, low economic participation factors. Such units may, however, have good maneuvering
capability. In this case, the economic path does not take full advantage of the very desirable maneuvering
capability of these units.
For these reasons, it is often advantageous to allocate to some units a greater fraction of ACE than
dictated by economics in order to achieve quick overall system response. This is the purpose of the
regulating path.
2.3
Regulating Path
The regulating path allows you to overcome the shortcomings (described in the previous section) of a
purely economic approach to control by redistributing the duty of neutralizing ACE in favor of units that
have good regulating capability.
We recommend that the individual unit gains (called regulating factors) in the regulating path be set to
values that reflect unit response rate capability rather than unit size, operating cost or load level. In other
words, assign most of the regulating path gain to your fastest units.
Note that unlike the economic path, the regulating path has no constraint on its overall gain. The overall
regulating gain may be varied to suit the requirements of good transient response and effective utilization
of turbine maneuvering capability.
We also suggest that the values of the regulating factors not be adjusted when units are placed on or off
automatic control. This is because the GAIN variable in the regulating path of Figure 2-1 is dynamic, and is
calculated by the AGC program at every AGC cycle as the ratio:
sum of regulating factors for all units equipped for AGC
sum of regulating factors for all units on control
Thus there is automatic compensation for the regulating loss of a unit going off-line (up to a limit, anyway).
The maximum value that GAIN is allowed to reach is 3. This means that if all of your units had the same
regulating factor, then you could afford to lose 2/3 of your units and still have the same overall regulating
path gain.
See section 3.5, Unit Regulating and Emergency Assist Factors, for more on this subject.
2.4
Assist Path
The purpose of the assist path in the main system control loop is to provide additional control action in
emergencies. It provides a means of increasing the total AGC loop gain when the value of ACE exceeds a
threshold value.
We recommend that the assist path gains (called assist factors) be selected to reflect the maximum shortterm load change capability of the generating units, rather than their sustained response rate capabilities.
If you follow our suggestion to set each assist factor to produce the maximum rate of change for each unit,
then it is not necessary to adjust assist factors when units are taken on or off automatic control.
See section 3.5, Unit Regulating and Emergency Assist Factors, for more on this subject.
Tuning Guide
Automatic Generation Control
System Tuning
2-3
2.5
Ideally, the AGC system should have a dual personality. During normal system operation, it should be a
smooth-acting control, giving quite gentle maneuvering of generating units and not attempting to respond
rapidly to small or short-lived variations of ACE. In emergency conditions, however, it should be able to
respond rapidly and decisively to move all unit outputs in the direction needed to correct the generation
excess or deficiency.
This is achieved by designing the AGC system to be non-linear with a large margin of gain. The system
can (and should) be tuned to have an over-damped response in normal operation, and have a high gain
assist path to produce strong action when ACE is large.
In summary:
The economic path gains are calculated by the economic dispatch program.
The regulating path gain should be set to produce a prompt but smooth transient response to
small disturbances. The gain setting should leave a wide margin of damping so that the
introduction of a significant amount of additional overall gain by the assist loop will still produce a
stable and satisfactorily damped system response. The regulating path gains should not be
regarded as being available for routine adjustment by system dispatchers. The regulating gain
should be fixed and no regulating factor should ever have a value exceeding unity.
The assist path gains should reflect generating unit short-term emergency response capabilities,
and the assist path threshold should be set at a value that the ACE exceeds only infrequently and
by small amounts during normal operating conditions.
2.6
The ACE filter should be tuned only after all unit control loops have been tuned.
When tuning the ACE filter, the primary goal is to eliminate, or at least reduce, unnecessary control effort
(i.e. pulses sent to the generating units). In the AGC program, a quantity called EFFORT is calculated by
generating values of one or zero depending on whether FACE (filtered ACE) is non-zero or zero,
respectively, and passing these ones and zeroes through a filter with a time lag of EFFCYC AGC cycles.
When FACE is non-zero, the output of the filter rises towards one, representing strong, continuous control
effort (when FACE is non-zero, control pulses have to be issued). When FACE is zero, the output of the
filter falls toward zero, indicating light control action.
A typical value of EFFCYC would be 300 AGC cycles (20 minutes if the AGC execution cycle is four
seconds).
The tuning of the ACE filter should be done as follows:
Disable the ACE filter by setting the value of the ACE filter enable/disable point to off. This point is
the one specified by the ACE Filter Enabled field in the AGC System Data file.
Tuning Guide
Automatic Generation Control
System Tuning
2-4
FK2 = 100
FK3 = 1
and then select the Update Tuning Data function from the AGC control menu in your control panel.
Select the desired level of control effort in steady conditions. We suggest that during fairly steady
conditions, sending pulses only 10 to 20 % of the time is a reasonable goal. If you agree, you will be
looking for long-term average values of the variable EFFORT to be in the range 0.1 to 0.2.
Run AGC during a fairly steady load condition for approximately two hours with the ACE filter disabled.
If you dont already have a two-hour historical dataset for ACE, create one now.
Inspect the historical data for ACE for the two hour period. Select a value for FK1 such that the
magnitude of ACE would be less than FK1 for 80 to 90 percent of the time.
A way to do this accurately is to export the ACE data to a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet (via the SCADA
Add-In). In the spreadsheet, beside the column of ACE sample values, add a column of IF functions,
where the condition in each IF function is that the corresponding ACE value is less than FK1 (which
you should set up in another cell). In each IF function, specify the true result as 1, and the false
result as 0. Sum the cells containing the IF functions and divide by the number of samples / 100. This
will be the percentage of time that ACE is less than FK1. So, now all you have to do is adjust the value
in the cell containing FK1 until the percentage value is what you want (i.e. the percentage of time
during steady conditions that there is no pulsing).
Enter the value of FK1 determined above into the system tuning parameters and select the Update
Tuning Data function from the AGC control menu in the control panel. Leave the value of FK2 set at
100 for now.
Pick another steady load condition period, activate the ACE filter and run under AGC for a two hour
period. Monitor the value of EFFORT. So long as the load condition is fairly steady, the value of
EFFORT should be in the range of 0.1 to 0.2. If EFFORT is too high, increase the value of FK1 in
TUNSYS and monitor EFFORT again. Repeat until EFFORT is in the range you want. Dont forget to
use the Update Tuning Data function every time you make a change to any tuning parameter.
A large value of FK2 disables correction of inadvertent interchange. The next tuning step is to lower
the value of FK2 to obtain inadvertent interchange correction without significantly increasing the
steady state control effort. The best starting point is an estimate of the MWH of inadvertent
interchange that would accumulate in 2 x FK4 seconds that would be large enough to take control
action. If you dont know, try an initial value of 0.5 MWH for FK2.
Set your initial FK2 value into the AGC System tuning parameters and run AGC for a few hours during
a fairly steady load condition and monitor the value of EFFORT. If EFFORT increases significantly (by
a tenth or so) compared to when FK2 was large, then FK2 is too small. Increase FK2 slightly and try
again, looking to keep the increase in EFFORT small.
FK3 should initially be set to unity. Then, following a step type disturbance, or a unit trip, observe the
rate of return of ACEMWH to zero. If it is too fast, reduce FK3. If too slow, increase FK3.
Remember that increasing FK1 and/or FK2 or decreasing FK3 all act to reduce control effort (and in
the process, make AGC less aggressive).
FK4 specifies a time constant used to produce a double lag of ACE, which is then integrated to
produce ACEMWH. The time constant FK4 effectively provides a sliding time window of twice FK4
seconds from which ACE contributes to ACEMWH. A value of 450 seconds for FK4 sets this window
to a reasonable value of 15 minutes.
Tuning Guide
Automatic Generation Control
System Tuning
2-5
2.7
Description
K01
30 MW
K02
50 MW
K04
30 MW
K05
15 MW
FK1
see 2.6
FK2
0.5 MW
FK3
FK4
450 seconds
BLRR
0.05
Tuning Guide
Automatic Generation Control
System Tuning
2-6
3.1
Unit Tuning
A reasonable value for short pulse strength is one that moves the generator output by approximately 0.25
% of generator capacity. This pulse strength should be reduced only if it is certain that a smaller pulse (in
terms of governor motor contact closure time, governor motor applied voltage, or other action) is sufficient
to ensure that the mechanical components will be moved beyond their stiction and backlash range. You
should also take into consideration the limit on communication bandwidth available to send pulses to the
RTU(s). You do not want to waste bandwidth sending a large number of ineffectually small short pulses.
The long pulse strength should be set to enable it to move the governor set point at a rate exceeding the
fastest rate at which unit output is to be allowed to change. The AGC logic recognizes that most units
have an inherent capability to change load rapidly over a limited range even though their sustained rate of
change capability may be very limited. There is no problem in having long pulse strengths set to exceed a
units sustained rate of change capability because the unit control loop logic allows the transmission of
pulses (short or long) only if the measured actual rate of change of power output is within acceptable
limits. A long pulse rate of change capability in excess of the limit is desirable because it allows the AGC
logic to move the governor set point rapidly through flat spots on the units output-versus-control
characteristic and hence maintain the permissible actual ramping rate at all times.
Tuning Guide
Automatic Generation Control
Unit Tuning
3-1
Experience with many governor and speeder motor combinations indicates that a desirable short to long
pulse strength ratio is 1 to 3. This suggests that the long pulse strength should be set at approximately
0.75 % of unit capability. If the AGC cycle is four seconds, this pulse strength moves the governor at a
rate corresponding to about 11 % per minute, which gives ample margin for dealing with flat spots in the
governor characteristic.
Setting the pulse widths (durations) that correspond to the pulse strengths recommended above require
knowledge and possible adjustment of the generator unit controller at the power plant. The selection of
short and pulse widths should be made on the basis of the maximum acceptable pulse power setting of
the generator unit controller, since short pulses minimize the phase delay in the generators response to
AGC signals, and hence promote good tight control.
The AGC programs rate limiting and not-tracking logic should be based the normal setting of pulse
power. Refrain from adjusting these parameters when the plant operator selects lower pulse power levels,
since during periods of gradual load variation, the AGC program will simply compensate for the reduced
pulse power by issuing more frequent pulses or a greater proportion of long pulses.
3.2
3.2.1
K07 Parameter
The K07 parameter defines a threshold value for the accumulation of unit control error that must be
exceeded before control action is taken. Increasing K07 decreases the amount of control action for small
deviations around the control point. Too large a value of K07 causes a deterioration in the control of
UMW i although the logic would still maintain the average value of UMW i at the desired set point. A value
of 1 % of unit capability, in MW, for K07 is reasonable. For units with poor pressure control performance
(variations of pressure in the steady state greater than 1 %), K07 may be increased to 2 % of unit
capability.
Adjustment of K07 should be done by letting the controls operate at a fixed value of UDESi (this can be
done by placing the unit in the BASE mode of control and setting the basepoint, UEBPi, to the desired
value) and observing the amount of pulsing activity. With the units output very near the specified base
point, a short pulse or two every minute should be acceptable under steady frequency conditions.
3.2.2
K09 Parameter
The sensitivity of the unit control loop to unit errors is determined by the value of K09. K09 is the value of
unit control error that drives the control action at maximum rate (i.e. using long pulses).
A good rule to follow is to initially set K09 to the value given by:
K09 = 0.1 * (MW / min) corresponding to long pulse
For a unit with long pulses adjusted for a maximum rate of 10%/min this formula gives:
K09 = 0.01 * Maximum capability
Tuning Guide
Automatic Generation Control
Unit Tuning
3-2
3.3
The unit-not-tracking logic is illustrated in Figure 3-1. The parameters associated with the unit-nottracking logic are listed in Table 3-1.
Figure 3-1 Unit Not Tracking Logic
KO6
DEADBAND KD
UDES
1
1 + T1 s
SUM1
1
1 + T2 s
SUM2
UMW
YES
= 0
if | SUM1 -UMW | < KD
= | SUM1 -UMW |
if | SUM1 -UMW | > KD
Table 3-1
Parameter
Unit-Not-Tracking Parameters
Description
T1
T2
KD
Sustained error between desired and actual power that can exist without causing any
action on SUM2. Note: KD is also used in the rate-limiting logic as the threshold for
resetting the positive-going and negative-going values of SUM4, S4P and S4N.
K06
KD defines the minimum steady state error, UDESi UMW i, which would cause an alarm. With a
sustained error (UDESi UMW i) = 1.6 x K06 x unit rating in MW, the alarm would occur after
approximately (T1 + T2) seconds. The approximate formula for time for alarm versus sustained
unbalance is:
T1 +
T 2 K 06 1.6
seconds
ABS (UDES i UMWi )
If excessive not-tracking alarms occur, a check should first be made on T1 to ensure that it is a fair
estimate of the response of the unit MW sub-loop as tuned.
Increasing KD and/or K06 will also increase the tolerance for not-tracking alarms.
Tuning Guide
Automatic Generation Control
Unit Tuning
3-3
3.4
The rate algorithm prevents the unit from being pulsed to exceed an absolute detected rate of change
(SUMPi) greater than the allowed fast response rate (KFR). The check is made against a threshold KSP,
where KSP is calculated by the AGC program as:
KSP = KFR
T3
60
If SUMPi equals or exceeds KSP, pulsing is blocked until SUMPi becomes less than KSP. KFR is a
Generator Unit tuning parameter that can be modified using SCADA Explorer (see the Automatic
Generation Control Database Guide). It is specified in MW/minute.
The rate algorithm also contains time lags used to smooth out fast changes and thus give indications of
sustained rather than instantaneous rates of change. Figure 3-2 illustrates the rate-limiting logic.
The time constants used to evaluate the rate of change of a unit are T3 and T4. The level of rate of
change limiting is determined by parameter K08.
The response of the rate algorithm for a sustained ramp of R MW/min (R is typically the same as KFR) is:
t
t
T3 R
T3
T4
e T3
e T4
1 +
60 T 4 T 3
T4 T3
K 08 =
URRATE T 3
60
Tuning Guide
Automatic Generation Control
Unit Tuning
3-4
Figure 3-2
Lag
NO
UMW
T3S
SUMP
1 + T3s
SUM4
1 + T4s
YES
YES
BLOCK
PULSING
NO
Note that since URRATE is changeable by the operator, K08 is not calculated by the AGC program. The
engineer must calculate K08 and insert its value into the database. Also, the final value of K08 will
depend on adjustments made in tuning and will probably depart from the initial value calculated by the
formula for K08 above.
With a sustained input to the algorithm of R MW/min, raise/lower pulses will be allowed until the output of
the algorithm reaches the value of K08. This will occur at T seconds. At T seconds, the pulses would
be allowed only if such would not violate the limiting rate of URRATE MW/min. Thus the algorithm, in
effect, permits the unit to move at the faster rate, R, for an amount T.
For a ramp of 10 MW/minute, the rate limiting algorithm set for a limiting rate of 5 MW/minute with T3 =
30 seconds and T4 = 100 seconds, would become effective after about 110 seconds. This allows the unit
to provide an initial fast pickup capability of about 18 MW before rate limiting comes into play. Adjusting
T3 and T4 will change this initial pickup capability. The band within which the unit can respond at the
faster rate before the sustained rate limit is enforced may be narrowed, primarily by decreasing T4. For
instance, with T3 = 15 seconds and T4 = 50 seconds, a ramp rate of 10 MW/min would be limited to 5
MW/min within 55 seconds, which would mean an initial fast pickup capability of about 9 MW.
The parameters T3, T4 and K08 are tuning parameters set by the engineer in the SCADA database. The
determination of the values to be used initially is made easier by a utility program called TFOUR, which
computes the values of T4 and K08 in terms of T3, the fast response rate allowed (R), the time (T) that
the fast rate is to be allowed, and the long term limiting rate, URRATE. See paragraph 3.4.1, TFOUR
Utility Program.
T3 must be set to be greater than or equal to twice the AGC execution period in seconds. The best initial
value of T3 to use would be twice the AGC execution cycle, or T3 = 2 * DELT. A limiting value of T3
would be about 30 seconds. This time constant is not critical so long as it is within this range.
The long-term rate limit, URRATE, is known from operating experience and operational constraints, and
should be the same as that used in the MMDB for the unit.
The short-term response rate, R, and the time in seconds, T, that it is to be allowed are determined
according to operational constraints on the unit.
Tuning Guide
Automatic Generation Control
Unit Tuning
3-5
Once the values of T3, URRATE, R and T have been determined, you can use the utility program TFOUR
to compute suggested values for T4 and K08. These can then be written into the AGC Generation Units
tuning parameters.
3.4.1
The TFOUR program is a command-line utility program to simplify the computation of initial values for T4
and K08. In a Command Prompt window, ensure you are logged into the folder (directory) where the
utility has been installed (this is the ScadaClient folder under Program Files\Quindar). Then enter the
command TFOUR to run the utility.
Alternatively, you could navigate to the folder containing the utility, and double-click the TFOUR.EXE icon.
You can run this utility on either host (or indeed, on any Windows workstation).
In the sample session illustrated below, the user input is highlighted in bold.
C:> TFOUR
ENTER THE VALUE OF T3 IN SECONDS:
8
ENTER THE LONG TERM RATE LIMIT (URRATE) IN MW/MIN:
2
ENTER THE FAST RATE LIMIT (R) IN MW/MIN:
5
ENTER TIME IN SECONDS (T) THAT FASTRATE IS TO BE ALLOWED:
90
T3=
T3
8.0
8.0 URRATE=
T4
160.0
2.0 R=
LONG
RATE
2.0
5.0 T=
FAST
RATE
5.0
90.0
FAST
TIME
90.0
K08
0.267
The utility prints a heading listing the input values, followed by a table of the output values of T3, T4, the
long-term rate, the short-term rate, the time for the fast rate, and K08.
In case you have run the program from the Windows Run command on the Start menu, or by doubleclicking on the TFOUR.EXE file, the utility prompts for you to hit the Enter key before it exits. This allows
you to record the results before the display window is closed.
3.5
There are two additional parameters that must be set for each unit that is placed under control:
You should not adjust these factors until after the unit-not-following and the rate-limiting parameters have
been tuned, since such tuning is best done by placing the unit in the base mode of operation. In the base
mode, the regulating and emergency assist paths are not active for that unit.
Tuning Guide
Automatic Generation Control
Unit Tuning
3-6
First, set the units regulating factor according to how much of ACE the unit should assume in attempting
to regulate the system to reduce ACE to zero. If the unit is to participate vigorously, the value of RF will
be set high (i.e. a few to several tenths). Conversely, if it is to participate only a small amount, set it lower.
A good rule of thumb is to set the regulating factors such that they add to unity for the condition of all
controllable generator units online, on AGC mode 1 or 2, and well within the regulating high and low
limits.
The emergency assist factors determine how much of ACE outside a threshold, K01, is to be assumed by
the unit. If a unit has a large value of regulating factor, RF, its emergency assist factor, AF, will have little,
if any, effect on how fast the unit is moved, as the regulating component will probably result in a
component of unit desired (UDESi) that will already cause maximum pulsing of the unit. However, if a unit
has a low regulating factor, the emergency assist factor, under conditions of ACE lying outside the
threshold of K01, will probably cause the unit to participate more actively in forcing ACE to fall inside the
threshold. Thus, the engineer should exert some judgement as to where to set the assist factor relative to
the units value of regulating factor. There is no convenient rule of thumb to follow in setting the assist
factors.
3.6
Description
AF
1.0
Assist factor
K06
0.01 x UMAXi
K07
0.01 x UMAXi
K08
K09
0.01 x UMAXi
T1
T4
RF
Regulating factor
KD
0.01 x UMAXi
Unit dependent
KFR
Tuning Guide
Automatic Generation Control
Unit Tuning
3-7
Note:
See paragraph 3.4.1, TFOUR Utility Program, for a description of how to use TFOUR to calculate
estimates for T4 and K08.
Tuning Guide
Automatic Generation Control
Unit Tuning
3-8
4.1
Hydraulic Generators
Unit Characteristics
For the most part, hydraulic generation units can be tuned as described in the previous chapter. There
are some differences, however. These differences are associated primarily with the differences in
dynamics between steam and hydraulic turbines.
4.1.1
Steam Turbine
A steam turbine and its governor have relatively short time constants and can respond very rapidly to load
change requests. Nevertheless, because of thermal limitations, steam turbines must be constrained to
move rapidly over only a small range. Large load changes must be restricted to a rate far below the
response rate capability of the governor.
A steam turbine can be modeled as a simple lag. Figure 4-1 illustrates the complete unit control loop
model for a steam turbine. The model parameters are listed in Table 4-1. The permanent droop, R, is
incorporated into AGC by the coordination of pulse strength and speed changer motor parameters.
Tuning Guide
Automatic Generation Control
Hydraulic Generators
4-1
Figure 4-1
Pulsing
logic
desired
1
R(1+Tg s)
1+Tt s
Governor
Turbine
output
To rate limit
logic
Table 4-1
Pactual
Parameter
Typical Value
0.05
Governor droop
Tg
0.1
Tt
0.25
4.1.2
Description
Hydraulic Turbine
A hydraulic turbine and governor involve time constants that are long compared to those of a steam
turbine, and hence cannot respond as rapidly as a steam turbine. The majority of hydraulic units can,
however, be maneuvered safely at the maximum response rate of the governor over their entire load
range.
The principal factor that distinguishes the dynamics of a hydraulic turbine from a steam turbine is the
inertia of the water column. On a sudden increase in the gate opening, the water velocity and power
transfer to the turbine actually drop initially before increasing. Integral action is therefore included in the
governor to lag the gate movement and thus smooth out the power transfer.
The transfer function of turbine output versus gate opening for a hydraulic turbine and penstock is
commonly modeled as:
1 Tw s
T s
1 + w
2
Tuning Guide
Automatic Generation Control
Hydraulic Generators
4-2
Figure 4-2
+
P
desired
Pulsing
logic
1-T s
w
1+Ts
r
output
R
R( 1 +
r+R
T s)
r
R
Hydro governor
1+
T s
w
2
Hydro turbine
P
actual
Table 4-2
Parameter
Typical Value
0.3
Temporary droop
0.05
Permanent droop
Tr
10.0
Tw
2.0
Description
The penstock delay represented by Tw introduces a destabilizing effect on the control of the unit such that
large overshoots and limit cycles become characteristic. Without additional logic, these can only be
eliminated by reducing loop gain, with undesirable consequences:
Reducing the short pulse strength brings the system closer to operating in a range where stiction and
backlash may have adverse effects. Reducing the long pulse strength curtails the maximum rate at
which the AGC system can change the units load setting.
Increasing the pulse threshold reduces the ability of the loop to act promptly in the presence of small
errors.
A tactic that is sometimes used to speed up hydraulic unit response is to bypass the governors
temporary droop after the generator has been synchronized. This is not recommended because it makes
the hydraulic unit dependent on synchronizing effort from an outside source for compensation of the
destabilizing effect of water inertia. Bypassing temporary droop on a large percentage of a systems
generation would produce a system that cannot govern itself.
A more fruitful way of achieving good hydraulic unit control response is to leave the governor temporary
droop setting alone, and to place phase lead in the unit control logic to offset the overall characteristic of
the governor. Such a compensation block is included in the Survalent AGC system, and is the subject of
the next section.
4.2
Lead-Lag Compensation
Figure 4-3 shows the addition of a lead-lag compensation block in the unit control logic for a hydraulic
unit. The parameters of the compensation block are chosen to cancel the lag-lead effect of the governor:
Tuning Guide
Automatic Generation Control
Hydraulic Generators
4-3
T 5 = Tw
(r + R )
R
T 6 = Tw
Figure 4-3
P
desired
_
1+T s
5
1-T
1+T s
r
Pulsing
logic
R
R(1 +
1+T s
6
r+R
R
s
output
T s
1+ w
2
T s)
r
Hydro governor
Lead / Lag
Compensator
Hydro turbine
P
actual
Set up a historical dataset to record samples of gate position and/or shaft speed.
Start the unit and let it settle at speed-no-load with its circuit breaker open.
Apply a sudden jog to the speed change motor sufficient to raise the units speed by about 5 % and
monitor the response of gate position and/or shaft speed.
For a typical well-tuned governor, the speed and gate transients should be slightly less than critically
damped (10 to 20 % overshoot) and should settle to their new steady state within about 20 seconds.
4.3
4.3.1
Because hydraulic units respond more slowly than steam turbine units to small changes in load reference,
the unit-not-following time constants should be extended to something like:
T1 = 60 sec
T2 = 200 sec
Tuning Guide
Automatic Generation Control
Hydraulic Generators
4-4
4.3.2
The majority of hydraulic units can tolerate step changes in their load references spanning their full output
range. There is, accordingly, no need for rate limiting logic in hydraulic units except as may be required
from a system control standpoint.
A practical set of rate limiting parameters that allow rapid maneuvering of hydraulic units is:
T3 = 20
T4 = 5
K8 = 10 to 20 % of UMAXi
where UMAXi is the units maximum capability.
Tuning Guide
Automatic Generation Control
Hydraulic Generators
4-5
In normal operation, you dont want to see the control pulse and setpoint commands logged. But during
commissioning of a new unit or when there are suspicions of incorrect operation of a unit control loop, it is
extremely helpful to see when pulses and setpoints are issued. It is also useful to see when pulses and
setpoints are withheld. Utilities that allow you to observe when controls are issued and blocked are the
subject of this chapter.
If a unit appears to be not following its desired output, and you dont see anything obviously wrong in the
control panel (such as that the unit has tripped out), you may wish to conifrm that controls are actually
being issued to the unit. Procedures to check this are described in section 5.1, Unit Control Logging. If
your investigation confirms that controls are indeed being issued to the RTU, then you will need to check
what happens downstream of the RTU.
If controls are not being issued for the unit, then you will want to use the utility described in section 5.2,
Unit Data Logging, to find out why.
Tuning Guide
Automatic Generation Control
5-1
5.1
As described in the Automatic Generation Control Database Guide, there is a status point that you can
define for each unit that allows you to enable and disable logging of controls issued to the unit. To enable
control logging, manually set the point to 1. To disable logging, set the point to 0.
When control logging is enabled, the controls are logged as zero priority alarms. You can view them on
the alarms display but you dont have to acknowledge them. Examples of the control messages that are
logged, for both pulse and setpoint controls, are shown in Figure 5-1.
Figure 5-1
11/03
11/03
11/03
11/03
11/03
11/03
11/03
11/03
11/03
11/03
11/03
11/03
11/03
5.2
1
2
3, SP=
53.09
3, SP=
53.75
3, SP=
3, SP=
54.42
53.75
3, SP=
3, SP=
53.69
53.65
1
2
1
2
Unit data logging is a function of the AGC program that you can turn on to display the control output
status of any unit at every AGC cycle. The logging is accomplished using the ScanMon utility, which you
may already be familiar with from the logging of RTU communication.
For details regarding the use of the ScanMon utility, please refer to your System Managers Guide,
document number SM-400.
To use ScanMon to log the AGC programs activity, enter the task name AGCITF when you start logging:
Figure 5-2 Logging AGC Unit Activity
Tuning Guide
Automatic Generation Control
5-2
Enter the number of the unit you wish to log in the RTU Address field when you start logging (as shown
above). Press OK to begin logging. To stop logging, press the Stop button in the toolbar, as described in
SM-400.
Unit data logging can only be enabled for one unit at a time. You dont have to turn logging off on one unit
in order to enable logging for a different unit. The logging on the first unit is automatically turned off when
you turn logging on for another one.
A sample of the data logged is shown in Figure 5-3. A line of unit data is logged at every AGC cycle. The
column headings are repeated at every new minute. The meaning of each column in the log is listed in
Table 5-1.
Table 5-1
Column
Description
HH:MM:SS
Time
ACE
UMW
Actual unit MW
DES
Desired unit MW
UCE
UCEACC
SUMP
SUM4
+SUM4
-SUM4
BLK
The control blocking code (given in the BLK column) is a code that indicates whether pulsing is or is not
allowed at each AGC cycle, and if not allowed, why. The blocking code values are shown in Table 5-2.
It is advisable to stop the unit data logging, and exit the ScanMon application, when you no longer need
the logging.
Tuning Guide
Automatic Generation Control
5-3
Table 5-2
Blocking Codes
Blocking
Code
0
Meaning
Allow pulsing no reason to block
10
20
40
50
60
13
23
43
53
63
-3
Allow pulsing even though ABS (SUMP) > KSP because signs of SUMP and UCE are
opposite
-nn
Allow pulsing to take place on codes 10, 13, 20, 23, 40, 43, 50, 53, 60 and 63 due to
either of the following:
1) Signs of SUMP and UCE are opposite
2) Signs of SUM4 and UCE are opposite
Tuning Guide
Automatic Generation Control
5-4
Figure 5-3
******************************************************
Logging of AGCITF started 10:58:15 Tuesday, February 03, 2004
******************************************************
HH:MM:SS
ACE
UMW
DES
UCE
10:58:19
10:58:23
10:58:27
10:58:31
10:58:35
10:58:39
10:58:43
10:58:47
10:58:51
10:58:55
10:58:59
-0.8
0.0
0.9
0.5
0.0
-0.4
-0.7
-0.2
0.6
0.1
-0.4
72.5
72.2
72.2
72.5
72.5
72.8
72.5
72.2
72.2
72.5
72.5
71.4
72.2
72.9
73.1
72.4
72.5
71.8
72.1
72.8
72.3
72.4
-1.1
0.0
0.7
0.6
-0.1
-0.3
-0.7
-0.1
0.6
-0.2
-0.1
HH:MM:SS
ACE
UMW
DES
UCE
10:59:03
10:59:07
10:59:11
10:59:15
10:59:19
10:59:23
10:59:27
10:59:31
10:59:35
10:59:39
10:59:43
10:59:47
10:59:51
10:59:55
10:59:59
-0.5
0.0
-0.2
-0.9
-1.1
-0.3
0.4
0.5
-0.9
-0.7
-0.3
-0.5
0.5
0.6
0.3
72.4
72.1
72.1
72.1
72.1
71.5
71.5
71.6
71.9
71.9
71.5
71.6
71.3
71.4
71.4
71.7
72.1
72.2
71.5
70.8
71.5
71.7
72.4
71.7
71.0
71.6
71.0
71.4
72.1
71.4
-0.7
0.0
0.1
-0.6
-1.3
0.0
0.2
0.8
-0.2
-0.9
0.1
-0.6
0.2
0.7
0.0
HH:MM:SS
ACE
UMW
DES
UCE
11:00:03
11:00:07
11:00:11
11:00:15
11:00:19
-0.9
-0.2
0.1
-0.6
-0.8
71.7
71.4
71.4
71.4
71.3
70.7
71.4
71.3
70.6
70.0
-1.0
0.0
-0.1
-0.8
-1.3
UCEACC
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
-0.1
0.0
0.0
-0.1
0.0
0.0
0.0
UCEACC
0.0
0.0
0.1
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
UCEACC
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
SUMP
SUM4
+SUM4
-SUM4
BLK
-0.27
-0.46
-0.28
0.13
0.08
0.35
-0.09
-0.35
-0.21
0.17
0.10
-0.06
-0.22
-0.24
-0.09
-0.02
0.13
0.04
-0.12
-0.16
-0.02
0.03
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.05
0.06
0.18
0.07
0.00
0.00
0.07
0.08
-0.11
-0.25
-0.26
-0.10
-0.03
0.00
-0.04
-0.16
-0.18
-0.04
0.00
0
2
0
0
2
0
0
2
0
0
0
SUMP
SUM4
+SUM4
-SUM4
BLK
-0.04
-0.32
-0.19
-0.12
-0.07
-0.64
-0.39
-0.13
0.22
0.13
-0.32
-0.09
-0.36
-0.11
-0.07
0.00
-0.13
-0.15
-0.14
-0.11
-0.32
-0.35
-0.26
-0.07
0.01
-0.12
-0.11
-0.21
-0.17
-0.13
0.03
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.09
0.11
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
-0.02
-0.14
-0.16
-0.14
-0.11
-0.32
-0.35
-0.26
-0.07
0.00
-0.13
-0.11
-0.21
-0.17
-0.13
0
2
2
0
0
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
SUMP
SUM4
+SUM4
-SUM4
BLK
0.26
-0.14
-0.09
-0.05
-0.13
0.03
-0.04
-0.06
-0.06
-0.09
0.10
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
-0.06
-0.07
-0.06
-0.09
0
2
0
0
0
******************************************************
Logging of AGCITF stopped 11:00:20 Tuesday, February 03, 2004
******************************************************
Tuning Guide
Automatic Generation Control
5-5